Socceroos players remain unwilling to travel to Jordan as Football Australia (FA) scrambles for alternatives to playing an upcoming friendly in Amman.
But US Soccer’s decision to withdraw their team from the U17 World Cup in Qatar over safety concerns isn’t expected to affect either the Socceroos or their Joeys counterparts.
The Socceroos and Joeys are both in camp in Doha ahead of their respective friendlies and World Cup campaigns.
The senior team is due to face Qatar on Saturday (AEDT) before travelling to Amman to face Jordan on November 18.
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The latter is the issue, with PFA boss Beau Busch saying last week that Socceroos players had “overwhelmingly expressed their view that the Jordan match should be rescheduled or relocated”.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) advises Australians to reconsider their need to travel to Jordan “due to the unpredictable security situation” and the “threat of terrorism”.
FA had been keen for the game in Jordan to proceed, but have said they are monitoring the security situation in the area.
The friendlies against Qatar and Jordan were arranged as preparations for January’s Asian Cup, but that has since been pushed back to December 2027 due to conflict in Saudi Arabia, clearly decreasing their significance.
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FA heavy hitters including chief executive Martin Kugeler and football director Heather Garriock flew to Doha this week, as did Busch and men’s head of player relations Jon McKain.
Players are not expected to back down and agree to play in Jordan, likely leaving cancellation or relocation as the options.
One option is Australia remaining in Qatar and playing Jordan in Doha.
But that proposal is understood to have been met with some reluctance from both the Qatari and Jordanian football associations.
Jordan has already had to deal with Indonesia pulling out of a friendly this window.
Playing the Jordan game somewhere in southern Europe is another option, along with cancelling or postponing the game altogether.
Coach Tony Popovic, due to speak to media in his pre-match press conference on Thursday night, has indicated no players would be blacklisted from future selection if they withdrew from his squad for security reasons.
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Elsewhere, in a letter sent to players US Soccer said it was cancelling its team’s pre-tournament camp and its participation in the U17 World Cup “in light of current circumstances”.
US Soccer cited US State Department’s Level 3 travel advisory for Qatar and related directives for embassy staff and families.
But the Joeys aren’t expected to follow the US in withdrawing from the U17 tournament in Qatar, while the Socceroos are understood not to have issues with being in Qatar.
